Freeskiing legend Arianna Tricomi touches on her chances to three-peat this year on the Freeride World Tour, growing up on skis in the Dolomites with her olympian family, progressing naturally into backflips and equal pay for all winners at the FWT 2020 in Hakuba, Japan.
January 20th, 2020 | by Jared Kubokawa
Italian freeskiing trailblazer Arianna Tricomi chats with Events Hakuba before the first competition of the Freeride World Tour 2020 in Hakuba, Japan. She is looking to three-peat this year being the overall women’s ski champion in 2018 and 2019. Being the first female to land a 360 in the comp, Arianna has paved the way for other female competitors and with pay being equal this year among all winners despite the field we are in for a roller coaster event of steep stomps and crazy crashes. Check out our exclusive interview, or take a look at the video with the leggenda that is Arianna Tricomi.
©Freeride World Tour / Mia Knoll
↓↓↓To watch the video click here↓↓↓
↑↑↑To watch the video click here↑↑↑
Part OneJared: I’m sitting here with Arianna Tricomi, last year’s champion and the year before. Two years – congratulations!Arianna: Thank you.J: So, are you going to three-peat this year? What do we have in store?A: I don’t know, I feel like Japan is a lucky place for me and I love the terrain here. I feel at home so who knows, I’m going to enjoy my ride and see what’s going to happen.J: Sounds great, best of luck. A: Thank you.J: Japan is a special place for you. You’ve won twice. I read that you liked it here a lot.A: Yeah, I really love it here but not because I won to be honest. The first time I got here it’s been so special because of the culture, the food, the people and these mountains – for me they’re like drawings you know so, special place and always nice to be back.
©Freeride World Tour / Dominique Daher
J: What do you think of Hakuba?
A: I like Hakuba, um, I think it’s not like super Japan – the fact that there’s a lot of people coming from the outside. So I’d be really really keen to go and travel a little more through Japan and maybe explore like smaller, local places. But it’s always a pleasure to be back here for sure. People are are so nice.
J: That’s great. Yeah and check out some of the cultural sites.
A: I will for sure one day.
J: I read that you come from a family of skiers.
A: My mom.
J: Your mom was an Olympian, right?
A: Yeah, exactly.
J: That’s amazing! What was it like growing up skiing in the Dolomites with your mom and your family?
A: Yeah, again I think I was pretty lucky to have the chance to grow up in the Dolomites and ski my whole life. And yeah having my mom of course being a great skier, she showed me every aspect of skiing, not only the racing part, but also powder and we skinned up when I was just six years old and telemark skied, so she really opened up a world for me and I’m super super thankful for that.
J: That’s incredible. You should thank your mom.
A: I do that every day pretty much.
J: And last question, so the style that you bring – you were the first female on the tour to land a 360. I love the freestyle that you bring. So, what’s next then?
A: I don’t know, I don’t like to put pressure on myself, I just like to enjoy skiing. Today I did three 360s and I think two were pretty big, I mean, for my standards and I like how it’s progressing very naturally. And I’m working on my backflips.
J: Wow! Good luck, that would be great!
A: I stomped some backflips this year – it’s been so nice but it’s such a personal thing so I don’t know what’s going to happen on the tour but I’m happy if I can bring some style, some grabs, some shifties. And I hope there’s going to be more girls bringing even more tricks and style and all this stuff.
J: Absolutely, yeah. And now equal pay as well.
A: Equal pay as well, yeah I didn’t see that coming so it’s been a really great surprise and I’m really proud to be part of the Freeride World Tour because this is a great step forward.
J: Great, well thank you so much for being on our program.
A: Arigatou gozaimasu. (thank you)
J: Arigatou gozaimasu!
©Freeride World Tour / Jeremy Bernard
Part 2
J: Hi, we’re back with Arianna Tricomi
A: Hello. Konnichiwa
J: So we did the face check today. What did you think of the face? How does the snow look?
A: I really liked the face actually. It looked super playful and I wish I could ski it like twice or three times because there is a lot of nice hits in there. I think the snow is going to be hard to predict. I know some expositions are better than some other expositions but yeah it’s going to be variable but I think if we play it smart, it’s going to be fun.
J: Sounds great. Are there any little side hits or trannies or drops that looked quite tasty?
A: Yeah, there are actually almost too many. I think this face is going to suit freestyle skiers because there is a lot of like trannies and like kind of transfer airs, like natural hits so I feel good about it and I’m really stoked to ride it.
J: Awesome. Well best of luck.
A: Thank you. Arigatou gozaimas
J: See you at the finish line
©Freeride World Tour / Jeremy Bernard
Events Hakuba is an Official Media Guest for the Freeride World Tour 2020. For more freeride action, catch up on the FWT20 season here.
